News briefs

Dr. Mott receives Class of 1962 Basic Science Outstanding Teacher Award

Justin Mott, M.D., Ph.D., biochemistry and molecular biology, received the College of Medicine Class of 1962 Basic Science Outstanding Teacher Award. The award, which was created in 1987 on the 25th anniversary of the graduating class, is given to a faculty member who contributes greatly to the education of aspiring medical students.  It is intended that this honor will inspire and foster continued excellence in classroom teaching. In 2007, the College of Medicine supplemented this award to recognize exemplary teaching by a basic scientist.

Internal medicine group participates in Society of General Internal Medicine's scientific meeting

Physicians and resident physicians from the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine recently attended the Society of General Internal Medicine's scientific meeting in Hollywood, Fla. The society is made up of 3,000 physicians who are the primary internal medicine faculty of every medical school and major teaching hospital in the United States. They teach medical students, residents, and fellows how to care for adult patients. They also conduct research that improves primary care, preventative measures, and treatment services for patients.

UNMC participants presented in three workshops, co-chaired the mentoring program, presented scientific posters, conducted a three-day training track developing teaching and leadership skills. Residents presented about 10 posters.

Faculty participants were Drs. Rachel Bonnema, Shannon Boerner, Regan Taylor, Tanvir Hussain, Mike Smith, Sarah Smith, and Stephen Mohring. Resident participants from internal medicine were Drs. Kara Markin, Randy McCreery, Chetaj Mahabir, Cory Rohlfsen, Jason Dinsmoor, Douglas Lim, and Meghan Combs, and Kathleen McKillip, medicine pediatrics residency program.

Dr. Coccia to be inducted into his high school alma mater's science hall of fame

Peter Coccia, M.D., emeritus professor, pediatrics-hematology/oncology, will be inducted into the Rome Science Hall of Fame by the Rome Academy of Sciences. A native of Rome, N.Y., and a 1959 graduate of the Rome Free Academy, Dr. Coccia will be honored for lifetime achievement. The induction ceremony will take place on June 9.

Dr. Schultz elected to American Physiological Society leadership

The American Physiological Society (APS) has announced that Harold Schultz, Ph.D., will be a councilor and part of its leadership team. Dr. Schultz and his fellow new officers were elected by the APS membership and took office in April.

Dr. Schultz is a professor of physiology at UNMC. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and conducted his postdoctoral training at the Cardiovascular Research Institute at the University of California, San Francisco.

He currently serves on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology and the American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, and is a senior editor for the Journal of Physiology.

He also has served on chapter and section advisory committees for the APS and as secretary and then chairman of the APS Neural Control & Autonomic Regulation Section. An active member in the Nebraska Physiological Society, Dr. Schultz has served terms as councilor and president.

Dr. Scherl recognized as a pioneer in pediatric orthopaedics at national meeting

Susan Scherl, M.D., professor of orthopaedic surgery in the College of Medicine, served as the meeting program chair for the 32nd annual meeting of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) in April.

At the four-day meeting, which was attended by more than 1,000 pediatric orthopaedists from throughout the world, Dr. Scherl led a symposium on "Non-Accidental Trauma in Children" during the meeting's Trauma Sub-Specialty Day.

Dr. Scherl was the first female meeting program chair in the society's history. She was recognized at the event in an exhibit titled "Women Pioneers in POSNA."

As the program chair, Dr. Scherl said, "My responsibilities were to choose all of the content for the meeting from the submitted abstracts, to plan the schedule of the meeting itself, and choose all of the session moderators and presiders."

Dr. Scherl credited "a lot of women who came before me, mentored me and helped me get to that position," she said, singling out Lori Karol, M.D., the first female POSNA president, who appointed her to the post.

"There are a lot of younger women coming up, and I'm looking forward to helping them along and seeing what they're going to do in the future," she said.

Dr. Are serving on the Joint Global Curriculum Committee of SSO, ESS

Chandra Are, M.B.B.S., professor, surgical oncology, is serving on the Joint Global Curriculum Committee formed by the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) and the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO). The lack of an adequately trained workforce of surgical oncologists can be a major detriment in efforts to address the rising global cancer burden. In two jointly published reports, the SSO and ESSO highlighted the global variations in training and made the case for a streamlined global surgical oncology curriculum of uniform standards. It is envisioned that the application of this minimum uniform standards of training will create a robust workforce of well-trained surgical oncologists to meet the growing need resulting from the rising global cancer burden.

Dr. Silva honored as a Susan G. Komen 'Pink Tie Guy'

Edibaldo Silva, M.D., Ph.D., has been honored by the Susan G. Komen Foundation of Nebraska as one of its Pink Tie Guys for 2016. Dr. Silva was honored at the Pink Ribbon Affair April 9 at the Hilton Omaha hotel. Pink Tie Guys are honored for supporting the Susan G. Komen mission to fight breast cancer. In addition to his work as a surgical oncologist, Dr. Silva is the director of the navigator program, a Komen-supported initiative at UNMC designed for trained lay navigators to accompany breast cancer patients during diagnosis, treatment and recovery. The navigators provide patients an advocate who can help them get breast cancer care which meets best practice standards set by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

American College of Physicians honors Dr. Anderson

Nathan Anderson, M.D., an instructor in internal medicine in the College of Medicine, was among six chief residents honored by the American College of Physicians (ACP) as winners of the Herbert S. Waxman Chief Resident Teaching Scholarship at Internal Medicine Meeting 2016, the annual scientific meeting of the ACP.

Herbert S. Waxman Chief Resident Teaching Scholarships were established in 2014 to recognize outstanding chief medical residents and to provide them an opportunity to help teach popular clinical skills workshops under the guidance and mentorship of expert faculty at ACP's annual scientific meeting. The Herbert S. Waxman Clinical Skills Center is a collection of activities offering physicians hands-on learning and simulation models focusing on office-based procedures, examination skills, and assessment and interpretation skills.